Left vs. Right

Prager University recently did a five video series on the different perspectives of the left and right on some key fundamental issues. I encourage everyone to watch the videos posted below but I’ll provide a quick take on each one.

1. The Size of Government

The best place to start is with this one. What is the role of government in our lives? I think the U.S. federal government has only a few rights and responsibilities. It was understood by the founders that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. The bigger the government is, the bigger the corruption. The consequences of big government is being felt around the globe with massive deficits and government takeovers of people’s lives. Do you really want to government sticking their nose into every single bit of your business?

2. Feeling Good vs. Doing Good

Is it more important to make everyone feel good by doing something popular or to do something which is going to produce positive, measurable results? Doing something which may make someone feel good initially could put them in a situation that’s set up to screw them over. One example is the government forcing banks to give mortgages to sub-prime borrowers. It may feel good to the borrow that they are able to get a mortgage and own a house with help from the government, but what happens when the borrower can’t afford to make the payments required to pay the mortgage on that house? Now multiply that by a few million. People vote for what feels good because that’s what they know, but they don’t know what does good. Results matter, not feelings.

3. The View of America

People on the left see all the bad that they perceive America has done and thinks that we are no better than any other country. In fact, they think most modern countries overseas, particularly in Europe, has it right and America has it wrong. People on the right believe that America is indeed the best hope the world has and that this country holds a very unique place in history. It’s something we like to call American Exceptional-ism. This country has given more people from more backgrounds more opportunities and more freedoms than any place in the world at any point in history. Not only have we fought for the freedom of people in American, we have fought, and still are fighting, for the freedom of people around the globe from tyrannical governments. In places where America has left a presence, prosperity has followed. Some prime examples include South Korea, Japan, and Germany.

4. Painful Truths and How to Handle It

Life hurts. Numbers don’t lie. Facts don’t change. To ignore these realities is absolutely foolish. There is evil in the world; mankind is inherently bad because we are born into a world of sin. Men and women are different, physically, psychologically, and emotionally; these differences are built in because men and women have different roles. Young black males commit a larger proportion of violent crime. War is sometimes a necessity against dictators and people who desire to cause as much destruction as possible; those people don’t listen to reason or anything else. Yet leftists and college students want to avoid opposing views that may hurt them. Political incorrectness, trigger warnings, safe spaces, etc. The sooner we acknowledge these painful truths, the sooner we’ll be set free.

5. Transforming Society vs. Self-Improvement

People like Barack Obama and those who voted for him voted for America to be “fundamentally transformed” forever. They see that there is a moral failing within the country with various phobias and isms and that it’s the government’s job to fix various “social issues”. Conservatives believe that change must come from within each person by taking the time to look within ourselves and discover each of our own moral flaws, a process that doesn’t happen overnight. Instead of being concerned about blaming groups of people or starting social causes, we need to be focused on fixing individuals. America survives when the people are morally strong because the country is dependent upon moral people to run it and protect it. To “fundamentally transform” a moral society means to eventually take away it’s morals. How much of that have we seen in the last 50 years?